My eyes open, revealing a swirling void around me. The whole expanse seemingly infinite, yet my attempts to move left me floating in the void. I find my body uninjured, raising the question of what happened as I continue to drift aimlessly.

"Greetings again, little colt."

I shudder as the voice from before returns, my startled flailing slowing as I feel gravity suddenly pull at me. In the blink of an eye, the void was replaced by a vast empty night sky that stretched out above me. I grunt with impact as I land on a patch of surprisingly soft grass. My head turns as I look around, trying to locate the source of the voice. Only to find two teal eyes staring back at me from a unicorn a few inches shorter than me.

"Do not panic. We are merely in your dreams together. We lost consciousness following expending all the magic we could pull on to decimate the Timberwolves."

"What do you mean in my dreams? What's this we shit!" I asked, my voice growing louder and more frustrated with each word. The sound was echoing all around us as the ground trembled beneath my hooves. My ears folded down as panic built in my chest. This wasn't right. The ground shouldn't shake; nothing was there for my voice to echo off. Was this unicorn telling the truth?

"As I said, we are in your dreams, that means both of our minds are sharing a dream. It took what little magic I had built up to do this. Little colt, do not misunderstand me. I am not here to be social but to relay one piece of information and a warning."

I tried to focus on her appearance, my eyes straining to make out details. Her coat and mane seemed to blur in and out, fading into the night sky behind her. All that seemed solid were the eyes looking at me, teal blue. Almost beautiful, were it not for her pupils, they were slitted eyes like a cat's. The whole situation felt wrong, the strange looks of the unicorn before me, her claims that we were in my dream, and the fact that the entire thing seemed to be unstable.

"You may call me Shadow, little colt. Beware the sun, for she cannot learn of my existence."

"Shadow? The sun? Do you mean the literal sun, or am I missing something?" I start to ask before the dream around us begins to rumble, the grass beneath my hooves shaking as the stars above us began to fade. The unicorn doesn't seem to even hear my questions, continuing to speak the second I fall silent.

"This dream is not easy to maintain. My magic is failing. However, this is beneficial. spells will not be able to detect my presence once my magic has been consumed."

The night sky finished darkening back to the void it had been before. Fear gripped at my core as the grass started to fade. The unicorn simply stepped closer to me, making her appearance more clear even as the void overtook the grass behind her. Those teal eyes staring unflinchingly into my soul, a shudder of discomfort rattled down my spine as her predatory gaze continued.

"You are awakening, Little colt. Remember, you must tell nopony of my existence, or we shall both burn."

_______________________________________

Pain, definitely the first thing that made itself known to me. Almost my entire body hurt; my hind legs were thankfully numb while everywhere else throbbed and ached in time with my heartbeat. Breathing in a rush of cool air made my throat burn as if I had just swallowed razor blades. I lay still, letting my ears adjust and move on their own. The quiet beep of a heartbeat monitor was the only thing preventing silence from falling across wherever I was currently.

It took a few minutes of breathing before I had gathered the courage to crack an eye open. The sight of white painted walls, a tile floor, some kind of IV drip stuck into my foreleg was all I needed to see to know I was in a hospital of some sort. The whole room felt like it was dead, the only light coming from a glowing crystal above me or the window, which must have been behind me based on the warm sunlight streaming in.

"Bwuh? W-" I started to speak before coughing; my throat was raw and painfully dry. With a single eye open, I looked to my immediate right. Usually, that's where the staff would put the bedside table, right? My search revealed a glass of water was sitting on the table. The white and red striped straw sitting in the glass taunting me with how far from my mouth it was.

I tried to move to reach for it. My forelegs lifting from the thin sheet covering my lower body, a metallic clinking filled the air, and my legs refused to budge. I looked at what my brain kept thinking of as my arms, my other eye bursting open as I saw the set of manacles adorning my forelegs. Every movement of my legs caused them to jingle and clank obnoxiously, the pain in my ankles suddenly made sense as I looked at the metal squeezing against them.

"Hello?" My voice rang out, breaking the quiet of the room. My mind racing, this wasn't right, why am I in literal chains yet in a hospital? If I was arrested, shouldn't they have put me in a jail cell? Slowly the blurry memories of how I'd looked coming out of the fight filtered through my mind. "Whoever we found must have put me in the hospital to let me recover before I join the others?" I muttered aloud to nobody in particular, trying to puzzle out what I must have missed.

I was pulled from my thoughts by a large Pegasus striding into the room. His helmet visor was lifted revealing two bright purple eyes. The dark blue armour with moons on the front was surprisingly effective looking, from what I could see he was wearing a black gambeson beneath his armour. He paused and locked eyes with me, one eyebrow raised, seemingly surprised I was awake.

"I was asked to inform the Princess if you were awake. I will return shortly once she has been informed to escort you to meet with her." He announced before turning on his heels and practically marching out of the room. I was impressed despite my fear of the situation. The familiarity of the armoured Pegasus' professionalism helping to calm my nerves.

Once he left, I sat back, adjusting as I could to sit up. Despite the numbness, I could move my hindlegs, it helped calm the worry that had been building at the back of my mind. Reflexively I moved a hoof down to grab the sheet hiding my legs only to brush my hoof against it as my mind remembered I lacked hands. A brief pause later, I settled to scoop the sheet off myself, giving it a few kicks with my hind legs to free them.

I couldn't help but stare at my legs, still clearly healing where the fur had been shaved off. I could see intricate scarring where it looked like they had been sewn back together. I wiggled a little to bring my hind legs closer, reaching out to trace the scars on one with my hoof.

Again my door opened to reveal the Pegasus standing there, snapping me away from staring at my injuries. We looked at each other for a moment before he turned away, lifting a wing as he buried his head in his side. The confusion I felt was quickly dealt with when he lifted his head up to reveal a ring of keys in his mouth. He trotted over to me before standing up on his hind legs and leaning against the bed, unbuckling my manacles to let me move my forelegs freely.

"You are to follow me to your meeting with the Princess," he ordered, stepping back from my bed before waiting for me to join him. I shuffled towards the edge of the bed before turning to try and go off it backwards. However, my carefully planned manoeuvre only resulted in falling ass-backwards off the bed and onto the floor. A bolt of pain shooting up my spine as I landed on my tail.

With a sigh, I was yanked to my feet, feeling teeth bite down on my collar like a cat would a kitten. The Pegasus looked at me once I was standing before heading for the door. My hind legs shook with the effort of standing, the muscles in them aching despite the numbness. I grit my teeth before forcing myself to move, the comfortable rhythm that I'd found back in the forest eluded me now as I struggled my way across the cold tile floor.

The hospital was mostly what I'd expected, clean white tile floors that were frustratingly slippery for my unsteady hooves. Walls painted in muted colours, greens and blues were most common, it seemed. Some of the nurses looked at me as I was escorted by the armoured Pegasus, it must be a weird sight.

The most bizarre thing with these creatures was the pictures on their rears. My escort had what appeared to be a comet. Most of the nurses we passed had what seemed to be medical-themed, ranging from a heart to bandages and even a scalpel cutting into some generic red shape.

A twist of my head revealed my own rear was blank, presumably because I hadn't had it tattooed yet? Maybe it was like some kind of job ID? I pondered as we walked down the corridor. Not quite realising that I had zoned out, staring at the rear of a female nurse is probably the most obvious way possible.

A wing smack to the back of the head brought me back to reality, the impact nearly caused me to fall as my forelegs slipped on the tile. Only to be caught by the same wing, gunmetal grey feathers filling my vision until they moved away again. The Pegasus guard's purple eyes bore into me after he'd both smacked and caught me.

"Don't be some kind of pervert" he growled before opening the door to our left with a hoof. "Wait in here, the princess will be along shortly." I trotted into the room before the door shut behind me. I peered out the window to see the Pegasus turning on his hind hooves again. He marched off his wings, folding against his sides with an audible clang as metal met metal.

The room was relatively empty, a low table with four cushions set out by it taking most of the space. I noticed the table was closer to the wall where only one cushion had been placed, so I trotted over and sat down as best I could onto the pillow. Sitting down as a unicorn was still a bizarre feeling, my hind legs folded as my rear rested on the floor and forelegs held me up. I would have preferred to sit on a chair to preserve some semblance of dignity. Until I realised that chairs would probably not work the same, considering if I sat like a human would, my tail would get crushed. Once I had sat down and briefly pondered equine furniture's complexity, I couldn’t help but examine the room in more detail. A dull blue paint adorned the walls, and out the window, I could see a lush green garden area with other horses walking about. What stood out most was their colours and the size of them, squinting to focus. I could make out a concerning trend that the ones with marks on their rears all tended to be larger than those without. Based on how some without marks were literally riding on the backs of their larger marked brethren, a missing piece of information slotted into position.

“We were turned into children?” I stated out loud, the fact made sense in retrospect. From what I’d seen in the walk across the hospital, I was smaller than most of the other horses I’d seen. My mind digested that bombshell slowly as my ears twitched, drawn towards the sound of large, heavy hoofsteps outside the room. They were like a cross between a high heel and an armoured boot from the sound, the clopping sound of a hoof hitting tile replaced by a metallic sound. Even my escort hadn’t sounded like that when he was walking with me. Which raised the question of just what was trotting down the corridor towards me.

Silence fell across the room as I shut up immediately, my eyes screwed shut as I focused on listening to whatever I could outside the room. Muffled voices were barely audible through the door, bassy enough that they were clearly male. Two of them from what I could hear, one I recognised as that of my guard, his short, clipped military way of speaking was still easily recognisable. The other was softer with a hint of an oxford accent from what I could hear, the two were discussing something before a sudden silence fell across the both.

Again I heard my escort’s voice saying a short sentence before a feminine voice cut through the silence. “Come with me Mystic” her voice rang out, simultaneously carrying far more weight than both of the men combined whilst remaining soft. The door was suddenly enveloped in a golden glow, shining into the room as I sat there stunned. Swinging open to allow a cloak wearing Unicorn taller than me to enter, a bundle of files floating along with him. He sat down opposite me before moving his cushion to the side and looking to the door.

“Greetings my little pony” her voice spoke again as she stepped into the room. Long alabaster legs entering my vision first as I looked up to stare in shock at the immense unicorn. She continued through the door, revealing folded wings resting on her side. I realised that her mane was seemingly composed of the Aurora borealis itself, floating in an unseen wind. My lungs refused to comply as it seemed like all the air had been sucked from the room the instant she entered. The effortless aura of power she radiated made my knees weak as if her nature demanded I bow before her, the golden crown adorning her head, jolting my brain back into life.

“Y-you’re the Princess?” I asked, my voice shaking as I had to fight the urge to bow at her golden armoured hooves. Her large pink eyes looked down at me, my heartbeat raced as she did a mixture of fear and awe overwhelming me as I fought to breathe. The few brain cells that seemed able to function as she sat down opposite me finally collided. Spewing forth memories of how I’d read of mortals being overwhelmed by the sheer presence of a god. My newfound understanding of mythology aside, She looked at me, her flowing mane covering one eye as a regal smile formed on her lips.

“I am Princess Celestia, this is Mystic Haze, a former student of mine and professor of the Unicorn Academy of Hoofington.” As she spoke, I was enraptured, waiting on her every word as her gentle voice filled the room. “He conducted the interviews with your friends whilst you recovered in the hospital. However, he felt it prudent to reach out to me for this interview. Do you know why that is?”

Her question left the room to fall into silence, Mystic haze shuffling through some documents that I couldn’t make out. Guessing by the fact, there were three folders with paper and one without, they must be interview transcripts or something related. I wracked my memory, trying to think of what it could be that brought her specifically to see me and only me. The momentary thought that it could be related to Shadow sending a bolt of panic down my spine, followed by the realisation what was on Princess Celestia’s rear. The orange sun was on full display, making connecting the dots easy. “Beware the sun, for she cannot learn of my existence” Shadow had said, the connection was obvious. Celestia was what she’d meant, but She couldn’t have known of Shadow’s existence. Shadow said that the dream would drain her, which should hide her from being detected.

“Was it the magic I used in the forest?” I asked, my voice thankfully, not cracking as I suppressed the rising panic in my stomach. Celestia looked at me thoughtfully before her horn ignited with the same golden glow as the door had, several papers floating over to her. I risked a glance at Mystic haze, finding his horn alight with a quill held over a sheet of paper, moving with startling speed as he wrote something down.

“Indeed, my little pony, this is about the magic you used to save your friends' lives out in the forest. Also about what your friends have said regarding where you four come from. I understand what you all have been through must have been frightening.” she said as she lowered the papers onto the desk before her. “They said your name is Asher, is that correct?”

I nodded, her words having hardly alleviated my fear at this whole situation. Her gaze studied me carefully, seemingly focusing on my horn and the ring around its base. Mystic tapped his papers against the table before offering another to Celestia.

“Wonderful, I have read your friend’s accounts of what happened to you all unless there is something you feel the need to state about your time in the forest we shall move on.” Celestia started again, the warm, regal smile on her face not wavering for a second. “The magic you unleashed in the forest is known as Sombramatic Magic, or in laypony’s terms Dark Magic. It is not something that most colts can use without external help. However, I have heard of unicorns using it during times of extreme stress. You used it to protect others as well, despite the corruptive nature of Sombramatic Magic, which speaks volumes of your character to me. Although I would like you to clarify some of what your friend’s said, is this alright?”

“Yes your majesty, I’ll explain what they said as best I can.” My mouth moved faster than I realised to reply, my desire not to upset the potential goddess opposite me spurring me on. To my relief, Celestia nodded her head slightly in thanks before Mystic cleared his throat. I turned to look at him, seeing the page floating before him.

“Your friends stated you are a flying officer in the RAF? Could you explain what those mean? You obviously aren’t a pegasus, and from what your friends stated you lacked wings before arriving here.” he asked, his voice calm and collected. I got the sense he didn’t like me from how cold he seemed compared to Celestia’s almost motherly warmth.

“Certainly, Flying Officer is my rank, I graduated from the Officer's College, and I am fully trained to pilot the GR4 Tornado. The RAF is a shortened name for the Royal Air Force, which was the branch of the armed forces that I was serving in.” I paused to think for a second before my urge to comply with the Princess’ wishes got the better of me. “We used machines to fly, I could explain them to you if you’d like however it’ll take a while. The simplest explanation is the Tornado was a flying machine with two crew members, a pilot like myself, and a navigator.” Mystic was writing with a speed that I’d never seen before, transcribing every word that I said almost instantly down onto the floating parchment. Whilst Celestia merely nodded and listened, her face unreadable whether that was due to my lack of understanding of horse facial tics or her impeccable poker face.

“We also realise we should probably explain some things to you.” Mystic haze began, pulling another sheet of paper from a folder before clearing his throat. “You are in Equestria, which is presently ruled by” Mystic was silenced by a hoof from Celestia, she looked at the list and sighed. Shaking her head before returning her gaze to me.

“Sorry about that my little pony, I understand you’re likely confused about where you are, but that list was too much for me to stomach. You and your friend’s case is unique since the fall of discord, I do not know if we will be able to send you home as from what your friends have said your world is without magic. I am looking into this, and I promise you if anything is found you will all be told.” My brain stuttered for a second, comprehending what Celestia had said, the bombshell that our home was likely gone forever hurt to hear. Although telling me now was better than letting me develop false hope, I suppose. As I sat still the fur on my neck started to rise, looking up to see that Celestia’s horn was glowing gold I began to panic. The sensation of numbness spread from my legs as a golden wave passed over my entire body. It faded as swiftly as it had started, leaving me bewildered as I looked at Celestia to see her smile had changed slightly. Her smile had grown into a true expression of happiness, or perhaps relief.

“That was a simple diagnostic spell, I was checking your body and magic for any lingering traces of the Sombramatic Magic you generated during your encounter in the forest. Thankfully it is no longer in your system, meaning we can remove the inhibitor from your horn and return you to your friends.” The golden glow returned as I felt my horn tingling, the ring lifting off quickly before my whole body shuddered. A rush of presumably magic flowing through my entire body, I felt energised and realised how hollow I had felt without my magic. Celestia waited for my epiphany to end before resuming speaking. “We have enrolled you at Mystic’s academy, along with Katty. Maya and Tibbs are to attend the small flight school in hoofington as well.”

Mystic floated the papers over to himself, tapping them on the table before filing them away. As he did that, Celestia smiled again shuffling briefly before she stood, her height towering over me. Unlike before, the fear she had inspired was gone. Replaced by a sense of comfort from her bothering to help us with our problems.

“Mystic will take you to your friends and then on to your new room at the student housing. I wish you and your friends the best of luck, Hoofington is a lovely city, and I am sure that you can all thrive here.” With that, she opened the door and left, allowing me to glimpse the horses in the corridor bowing as she strode off.

“I’m sorry if I came across as cold earlier, I’ve read reports of what Sombramatic Magic did to the minds of inexperienced unicorns who used it. Thankfully they seem to be wrong in this case. As the Princess said, My name is Mystic Haze, a pleasure to meet you, Asher.” Mystic said, having crossed over to my side of the room, a hoof outstretched in what I assume was meant to be a handshake. I lifted one of my own and attempted to shake his, the two limbs bumping against each other. We turned and headed for the open door. My mind already occupied by thoughts of making sure the others were alright, mingled with worry that I’d been unconscious for an unspecified length of time.

Author's Note

Hopefully the extended length was worth the wait for you all!

Let me know what you thought of the chapter in the comments, next part is in drafting already but I'm going to try to keep improving the quality of the fic.